Figure 3.

Stat3 protein knockdown affects migration and invasion of metastatic HCCLM3 cells. (A) Western blot against Stat3 protein from HCCLM3 cancer cells transfected with scrambled or specific siRNAs against STAT3 mRNA. (B) The effect of specific pseudopod-enriched Stat3 protein knockdown on cell viability was evaluated using the MTT assay. NT cells: non transformed cells. (C) Cell migration was assessed using the wound healing scratch assay. The average migration distances at 48 h from triplicate experiments are shown. NT cells: non transformed cells. (D) The invasiveness of HCCLM3 cells was assessed using a matrigel invasion approach. The number of transwelled cells was counted and expressed as mean±SD from triplicate experiments. NT cells: non transformed cells. (E) Transwelled cells stained with crystal violet. Invasive cells were observed under a ×40 objective lens and the number of cells in five random fields were counted and an average calculated. Scale bar: 100 μm.